Display Issue

[Betty Monroe]

What determines whether the desktop icon captions on the Windows desktop
appear on a "transparent" background or a solid background?

That is, on the default Windows XP desktop with the "bliss" wallpaper
(the standard green meadiws & blue sky), on some systems the icon logs
are simply white letters overlaid on the wallpaper, but on other
systems, there is a solid color rectangle (blue by default) first
overlaid on the wallpaper, with the icon caption inside that rectangle.

The "transparent background" is far more attractive, but I'm fighting a
system now where I can't acheive it. The system's video card is an ATI
Radeon 7200 with 64 meg of memory, 1024x768, 32-bit color depth. I'd
think it should be capable of "transparent" backgrounds for the icon
logos, but I can't get there. I've tried different color depths and
resolutions, nothing helps. I'm using the very latest ATI drivers.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Lindsay]

Control Panel> System properties> Advanced tab> Performance button.
Look for Use drop shadows for... at the bottom of the list. Check the box
and click OK.

 

[Kelly]

Hi Betty,

Start/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/ Visual
Effects/"Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

Also:

Right click the desktop and select Arrange Icons by. Towards the bottom of
that list, uncheck "Lock web items on the desktop."

Desktop Text Color:

By default in XP, it can't be manually changed. The text changes on its own
from dark to light depending on the color of the background. It is based on
the Desktop color not the Wallpaper. The combo is whether or not you are
using a Wallpaper and what the Desktop color is.

 

[Betty Monroe]

That did it, thank you very much !!

Control Panel> System properties> Advanced tab> Performance button.
Look for Use drop shadows for... at the bottom of the list. Check the box
and click OK.